Yiehaa, another review by FoamieCrew. This summer we’ve took some longboards out to France. One of them was the Odysea Log. So, how is the performance of this Catch Surf foam board? We put the Odysea 8’0 log to the test.
– With this board, there’s a reason to go surfing and have an incredible amount of fun
– Way more stiff than you’d expect from an 8ft soft board
The Catch Surf brand
Catch Surf originated in California, a child of hot fluorescent 80ties pop culture and core surf vibes. The people behind the brand are largely responsible or giving soft tops street cred. Their fun-looking boards, plus, by having pro’s with serious surf abilities in their corner, it’s no wonder they quickly became the most popular foam brand in the US. In our post https://foamiecrew.com/soft-top-surfboard-for-beginners/ you can read more about this.
Don’t let the bright and playful prints deceive you, though: Catch Surf is all about quality.
Odysea 8’0 log: What does the brochure say?
The Catch website tells me that “more is better when it comes to having fun and the LOG delivers!”
The LOG comes in 4 sizes: a 6’0, a 7’0, an 8’0 and a 9’0, varying from 57 till 98 liters. The LOG wasn’t designed with a single surfer in mind. It should work for kids learning to surf, as well as for experienced surfers that want to experience a bit of diversity. Even for pro’s, the LOG is appealing, as there’s plenty of footage of LOGs being surfed in overhead Pipeline. Enter the search queries J.O.B. and softtop in Youtube and you know what I mean.
The LOG has a ‘Stiff Dual Composite Core’ and Triple Wood Stringers. This means that the engineers did everything in their power to make this foamie as stiff as possible. The board comes with hard fins, not the flexy ones you see often on soft tops.
Dimensions:
Volume (L): 86L
Dimensions (inches): 8’0” x 23.0” x 3.375″
Our experience surfing the Odysea Log 8’0
This.board.paddles.so.fast. It feels like you could cross the Atlantic with it. But seriously, it gives you an advantage on beach breaks with shifting peaks. And observant surfer can spot a bump and quickly paddle across 100 meter and be the first on the peak.
We’ve surfed this board mainly in small surf. When waves are ankle / hip high, the fight for who get’s the Log begins.
The foamie is ideal for beginners and experienced surfers alike. I’ve surfed some beginner softtops by Olaian, that are designed to be stable and easy to surf. Those beginner boards mainly want to go straight to the beach and I had a hard time cutting the rails in the waves’ shoulder. With the Log this is different. I don’t know whether it’s the rail design or the stiffness of the board, but it’s definitely possible to do some rail to rail surfing on this softtop.
The board is tall and quite voluminous, so it works for heavy guys as well. One of my friends is 1.90m tall and I guess he weighs around 90kg, and he’s in love with this foamie. In small waves, or windy/mushy waves, he dominates the line-up on his fluorescent Log. The board is relatively narrow, which makes it possible to turn the softtop like a longboard.
Our verdict:
High quality foam longboard. We only surfed it in small waves so we can’t say much about how the Odysea Log performs in big surf or shorebreaks. In terms of technical specs (stiffness, durability) it should handle itself well. All in all, a great longboard for both kids and grownups.
